英语听力文摘 English Digest 8、How To Start Your Own Business(1)

　　President Bush says the key to a strong economy is the creation of more small business. But statistics show that most startups are doomed¹ to fail. However, the experts agree that with planning and hard work a new company can beat the odds². This morning and in the coming Mondays, 90.3 WCPN?'s Mike West will cover the basics of what you need to know to start your own small business. In part 1 we look into some tough questions about what it takes for businesses to successfully get off the ground.
Mike West: There are over 25 million small businesses in the United States. They provide about 80% of all new jobs. Another reason they are valued is because they can eventually become major corporations employing thousands and investing in the community. Most small businesses start off the same way, a person with a dream and little else. So what's the next step? There are private consultants³, government agencies and educational institutions just waiting to hear from entrepreneurs. The Council Of Smaller Enterprises, or COSE, is one of them. Executive Director Steve Millard says the first thing would-be business owners need to do is ask themselves if they have "the right stuff."
Steve Millard: People don't often think of the fact that running a business is a lot different than working in a business. You have a lot more to consider and deal with, so the first step is, are you somebody who can be an entrepreneur, are you motivated, can you autonomously⁴ can you set goals for yourself and actually meet them. Can you afford to be in business for yourself, or if you go into business for yourself are you just going to create a job for yourself that's worse than the situation you're in now.
MW: Those are all questions Alma Alfonzo has asked herself. She owns this bakery near the West Side Market. Alfonzo opened the Lelolai Bakery a year ago, so there is still plenty of uncertainty⁵. It's not like the old days when she had a high level corporate⁶ medical position. Alfonzo says running the bakery takes much more time and mental toughness than her old job.
Alma Alfonzo: The reality of a small business is it takes courage, there is a lot of risk involved. Most of the time it's your own personal risk which you don't see when your working in the corporate world. It's somebody else's money so. You know courage takes a lot of your energy. You wake up every morning with a depletion⁷ of energy as it relates to not knowing the things your going to face in the day. As a new venture there are obviously surprises, you don't know what are some of the issues your going to deal with.
MW: Despite those feeling her strong desire is enough to overcome some of her doubts.
Steve Presser agrees - he's the owner of Big Fun, a Cleveland Heights novelty and collectable shop that he started 11 years ago. He says if people really knew what they were getting into, there would be fewer startups.
Steve Presser: I think most people that have that knowledge beforehand really don't open up businesses because when you're a sole proprietor⁸, a self-owner your own individual business you tend to spend much more time than you anticipate. When I first opened up with my father and I literally⁹ worked every hour the store was open. Now I'm fortunate enough to have good people working for me. And I'm not here as much as I used to be. I'm here often but I have the luxury of trusting my employees.
MW: COSE's Steve Millard says that strong desire to see a product or service come to market is a must.
SM: People need to know this is something they feel like doing for twice as many hours as they are doing now, for probably half as much pay, they have enough passion and desire to sort of do this work in business for themselves.
MW: Another question future business owners need to ask is whether their family can survive the ordeal¹⁰. Unless your spouse¹¹ and children don't like you very much, the long hours are bound to take a toll¹² on your marriage and relationship with your kids. Presser advises living close to where you set up shop.
SP: We're fortunate to live two blocks from here, my kids kind of grew up coming here, my wife has helped out it has been a family business and so being part of the neighborhood has helped. If I traveled far I could see when the pressure, and there has been times she knows that's it's going to be from the Christmas holiday season from Thanksgiving and New Year's my hours increase dramatically.
MW: Bakery owner Alma Alfonzo says her husband has helped her from the planning stages forward and has his support. But her two young daughters are still adjusting to the demands of a life centered around selling cakes, cookies and sandwiches.
AA: I think as long as you know how to balance your family life with your work life. This is like having a new baby, that what I tell my daughters. You have to nurture¹³ it, take good care of it and so forth¹⁴, but it doesn't mean that when you get a new baby in the house you ignore everybody else.
MW: It's not just the lack of sleep and family time a new business owner can look forward to. Finances are also strained. COSE officials say most business can expect to lose money for at least the first year for various reasons, including poor planning.
SM: What's their risk tolerance¹⁵, what do they need to actually make at a minimum to maintain a lifestyle they have to maintain and what kind of financial cushion do they have to fall back upon. If you have a large family and you need to make $50-, $60-, $70,000 a year to support that family and you're the only source of income it probably doesn't make sense to jump off a cliff and start a business right away that your not sure is actually going to work.
MW: But there are ways around an "all or nothing" business start. Millard says some types of ventures allow you to work from your home or on weekends until you test the waters and find out if there is a market for what you want to sell. He says the best tool for starting a new company is a well-written business plan. The document could make or break your company. In Cleveland, Mike West, 90.3 WCPN News.

1 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

2 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

3 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

4 autonomously   

adv. 自律地，自治地

参考例句：

• To learn autonomously in the network environment is totally new to students. 基于网络环境下的自主学习对学生来说，是一种全新的学习方式。
• The QC-RS can operate autonomously or by remote control. QC-RS能实现自动操作或通过遥控来操作。

5 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 depletion   

n.耗尽，枯竭

参考例句：

• Increased consumption of water has led to rapid depletion of groundwater reserves.用水量的增加导致了地下水贮备迅速枯竭。
• Farmers should rotate crops every season to prevent depletion of the soil.农夫每季应该要轮耕，以免耗尽土壤。

8 proprietor   

n.所有人；业主；经营者

参考例句：

• The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
• The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

11 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

12 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

13 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。